Task 1A - Gameplay Elements

Terrain:

Terrain in a video game is the outer shell of the project, it is one of the first steps when considering the setting or the environment of the game. When a person mentions the terrain of a game they have to think about lay of the land and this overall aspect. An example of a terrain would be within the first mission of black ops, the environment is set in Cuba and so the terrain of the mission looks quite like a jungle that has been chopped down in certain areas to make room for different types of man-made architecture.

A different type of terrain can be seen in the evil within when looking at chapter 5, the chapters terrain could be seen as the hospital building itself instead of an exterior terrain like the Black ops one. The terrain of this is quite closed quartered and looks has a man-made layout compared to the natural layout of the black ops Cuban mission.

Architecture:

Architecture in a video game is the next step after terrain, it is the inner filling with the terrain being the outer shell. Depending on the original terrain can alter the outcome of what the architecture will look like. Anything that cannot be manipulated by the player and is within a room would be considered architecture to a gamers view. If we look back at the black ops mission the architecture featured in that level would be the buildings that are placed for exploration. The houses look quite cheap and run down due to their setting except for the mansion which looks quite wealthy due to Fidel Castro living there.

Comparing that to the evil within, we can’t call the architecture the hospital as that is the main setting for the chapter 5 mission. Instead the architecture featured in this game would be the different room that the player can walk through. This is a huge contrast to the black ops architecture as these bigger areas of architecture have been shrunken down to be closed quartered areas. Items included in architecture that wouldn’t usually seem like it are beds, hospital chairs, sinks etc. With this knowledge we could also say that there are sub architectures featured in the black ops 1 mission as there are multiple room for the player to walk through, the difference between this will be the attention to detail though as the evil within will attempt to place more details on a smaller scaled piece of architecture to compensate for not having a huge architecture whereas black ops will concentrate on how the exterior and interior look for their architecture making for a bigger scaled object to be worked on.

Objects:

Objects are items in a game that can be manipulated by the player, this means that anything that can be interacted with by the player is an object. This can range from items that are able to be held by the player to items in a room that can be changed by the player. In Black ops the objects used would be the arsenal at hand able to be used such as the guns, grenades, flash bangs, knife etc. Other objects that are intractable are items such as fruit, paper, plant pots, cars etc. but these objects have to be shot to be interacted with and changed. The video posted at the top of the blog will show you objects being interacted with as the player fights through the mission.

As for the Evil Within there are both similar and different intractable objects, the similar objects would be the arsenal the player has, as guns work the same in both games. As for objects not held by the player, the evil within has a more intricate design than black ops as the player can walk into objects to interact with them instead of having to shoot them for a change to happen. This can involve IV’s and wooden chairs. Objects can also be moved using the gun to interact with it such as TV’s and Crates. The difference between these two games are that The Evil Within has more intractable objects with a better mechanic of interaction allowing not just objects to interact with one another but for the player to interact with moveable objects too. To see objects being interacted with check the video above.

Characters:

Characters in a game are people who make an impact in a story and add emphasis to it. The protagonist will be the character(s) the player will control. As for other characters there is a fine line between calling them characters and NPC as the player may not be able to play as them which, by definition, would place them in that threshold. However, the way to determine whether a character should be categorised within the characters or NPC sections should depend on their impact to the story and how they add to it. These characters would include people like friends, the antagonist(s), family/loved ones etc. Looking at Call of duty Black ops the characters implemented into that would be Mason (the protagonist) and people such as Resnov, Woods, Castro, Dr Steiner or maybe the characters from the zombies game mode which are hugely recognised.

As for the Evil Within it takes a similar approach except without having the player through the eyes of the protagonist and instead looking over a detective known as Sebastian who is teamed up with Juli Kidman and Joeseph Oda. It also doesn't feature any extra game modes with a branching story arc meaning there are a lot fewer characters involved with this game than Black Ops.

NPC:
NPC stands for Non-playable character, in video games it is basically a character the player cannot control. NPC usually refers to the common folk within in a game such as merchants, towns folk, minions etc. There is a fine line between this category and the previous one as stated because sometimes characters in a game who are a main essential will not playable but they will not be categorised as a NPC but instead just as a character of the game. An example of a game with a huge amount of NPCs would be the Witcher 3, this game is an open world game and so thrives off of using NPCs for a lot of its content, these NPCs will usually give the player quests, trading options or be used as a background prop to bring an area to life and make it feel more realistic instead of a barren and deserted land.

Feedback:
Feedback is used in video games to tell people how well they are doing at the game they are playing, they are usually presented in a numerical fashion and appear on things such as leaderboards or another scoring system. The call of duty multiplayer has a great feedback system which tells you numerous amounts of information such as kills, deaths, assists etc. Another game with a feedback system is fifa as above the screen it shows the total goals for both sides and when they score a goal that total will increase. It will also display stats when the game is paused or the match has finished, this gives the player information which can help out to win future games.

Interface:
A HUD (heads up display) is an example of one method used in video games to relay a visual pieces of information to the player through the use of it's users interface. The interface has to be one of the major parts of a video game as it includes a lot of important information for the player to see. Taking Call Of Duty as an example, the interface for that game shows the amount of ammo the player has in total and in the gun, a mini map, any score/kill streaks they have, the score of the team for the objective they are playing to show if they are winning or losing and so on. The interface will change for each game though as not all of them will be portrayed in the style of a Call Of Duty game an example of this would be a fighting game as their is a health bar shown at the top of the screen for the player and their opponent.

Perspective:
The perspective of games will change from one game to the next, depending on the experience the developer will want the player to have will depend on the perspective they are presented it. Sometimes it will also depend on the genre and can differ into different perspectives as the years go by, an example of this evolving perspective can be found in the horror genre. A great franchise to analyse which shows of this transition is the resident evil series, originally a 3D perspective that had a sub perspective of fixed camera angles, it has morphed into having a behind the shoulder camera angle to a first person camera perspective for its upcoming resident evil 7 game.

There are many unique perspectives found in all types of games and developers are looking for ways to create even more so the player can have a different and more varied experience instead of having to play within the same perspective that is always done. Some examples of different perspectives are shown below.

FMV (full motion video):
FMV is a technique that video games use to show the player its narration, FMV relies upon pre-recorded footage rather than using things such as 3D models or sprites. FMV originated in arcade games in 1983 as laserdiscs had been invented and were becoming the new format to store video game data on. FMV can be used in two ways, the developers record the footage they need using real life actors and display the game so it has this balance of video game and real life, or use the actors movements and actions and then later render them as 3D models. A lot of games combined the gameplay element and use of real life to make use of the FMV technology however, this died down during the late 90's as new and massively improved technology was released making FMV cutscenes commonplace but ending FMV as a major gameplay component.





Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjJg1NAfCRY
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/510877151450078312/
http://gameru.com/tip/The-Evil-Within-Arsenal-Overview
http://opshead.com/article/1612/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-call-of-duty-zombies---dempsey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z34RTO2BKM4
https://playthroughline.com/scripts/call-of-duty-black-ops
http://callofduty.wikia.com/wiki/Fidel_Castro/Black_Ops
http://althistory.wikia.com/wiki/Call_of_Duty:_Black_Ops_(Canadian_Independence)
https://minniemeorange.wordpress.com/2014/12/28/i-hope-jojo-is-okay-the-evil-within/
http://realgamernewz.com/46984/the-evil-within-the-consequence-to-release-next-month
http://evilwithin.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=277
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2923496/the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-pc-review-impressions-smoothly-slaying-monsters.html
http://www.pushsquare.com/reviews/ps4/the_witcher_3_wild_hunt
http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2015/01/27/the-witcher-3-screenshots-gallery.htm/witcher-3-gameplay-screenshot-village-bulletin-board-pc-xbox-one-ps4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gXH8C7kJSQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OU8QQkTRSA
http://taboojive.com/tag/heads-up-display/
http://monstervine.com/2011/04/captivate-11-street-fighter-x-tekken/
http://www.gamehackstudios.com/resident-evil-free-download-pc-torrent-full-version-crack/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D254czP9kHE
http://central.tgn.tv/video/resident-evil-7-demo/
http://gamefabrique.com/games/super-mario-bros/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4JJvJFqTG0
http://gamecola.net/2010/11/versus-mode-the-next-gen-fmv-games-xbli-garbage-and-more/

Task 1B - Game genres

Within each genre listed below, insert a game title

Science fiction/action:

Science fiction and action are two separate genres which involve different elements but when combined can integrate these elements and mechanics together to create a more expansive and intriguing game.

Science fiction is a genre that deals with imagination and speculation surrounding futuristic events and elements which are fantasised and built around things such as technology, space travel, time travel and more work that is mainly revolved around the use of science. Science fiction was originally portrayed in books as a way to predict the future, in a way, with people giving their idealistic thoughts on what they believe could happen or is going to happen whether it be with the human race being wiped out by an alien race or the humans creating an AI so advanced that it could gain consciousness and out smart us to either enslave or destroy the human race again.

As time has gone by video games have used science fiction as a means of creating stories that revolve around their own idealisms. However, nowadays people use the science fiction in more than ways to just predict how they would see the future, they use it to create stories that can be set in the present or past implementing science and fiction to their whim. In video games what makes it science fiction will depend on several factors and not all of them have to be included to make it a fully fledged scientific game. The factors are, environment, mechanics, character designs, object designs and a whole heap of more stuff. An example of a science fiction game can be Bioshock, the game has no futuristic setting or aesthetic but does involve mechanics and story which revolve around scientific engineering placing it into the category of science fiction.

An action game is a game genre that emphasises upon the physical challenge for the player including hand eye coordination and reaction time. For a game to fit into the action genre it has to test the players physical ability of real life so they can overcome challenges placed into video games. It is one of the most common genres that exist and have been shown to improve the players eyesight.

Quantum break

An example of a game which combines the science fiction and action genres is Quantum break, the game explores into the theory of time travel and the effects of having people with powers to manipulate time. The game was developed by Remedy Entertainment and released during 2016 for the Xbox one. The game is centred around the protagonist Jack Joyce as he is involved in a failed experiment allowing him to gain time manipulation powers which can range from slowing down time, stopping time, manipulating time so he dashes, creating a time shield and more. As for the Action elements, the developers used the stated time mechanics to allow for multiple ways to tackle gun fights. This allows the player to use their own skills and adapt to the games pace so they can take out each fight in a way that suits them. For some enemies they will need to use certain techniques for both the powers and use of guns since there are different enemy types that can render some of the players attacks useless.


 
Racing:

The racing genre speaks for itself, the aim of the game is for the player to control a vehicle of some sort whether it be land, sea or sky and race around a course. They are usually quite limited in the content that they offer as vehicles are limited to the actions they can perform, however, there have been some innovative games that allow for more open and enjoyable content while sticking to the racing genre. Racing games usually include a competitive mode of some sort as well so that friends and families can go head to head and test their vehicle skills in a varied amount of game modes offered.

Crash team racing

Crash Team racing is a game developed by Naughty dog in the year 1999. The game is based around the story of trying to save the Earth from an alien who claims to be the fastest in the universe. The player must traverse through 16 tracks winning each race to advance and open up the next area until they eventually reach the final boss and beat him in a race. The game also supports up to 4 other game modes of time trial, arcade, battle and versus. Time trial involves the player racing against the clock instead of other people, battle involves being placed in an arena trying to scavenge for weapons and power ups in an attempt to destroy the other players.


Football/Sport:

The sport genre is a simple genre for games as it is based off of real life sports majorly, there aren't many games that invented a new kind of sport. Instead they just morph an already known sport and bend the rules or build something around it so it's kind of developed into something not seen before. A good example of a game which takes a basic sport and builds it into something unique is rocket league, it takes the typical football rules and way the game is played but adds cars into the mix to replace players allowing for a new gameplay style.

Other sports games are there to give a type of simulation to the player and games like this are FIFA or UFC, those games take already known sports including the rules, real life players/teams and more but make it so that instead of it being a watchable piece of media it is now playable. There isn't much change or innovation to the genre with these games but it allows people who are big time fans of the sports to be able to be in control and customise teams or a character to their play style bringing new entertainment to the table.




Survival/Horror:

The survival and horror are two genres that really go hand in hand and compliment each other, but they are both of their own genres and offer something different for players to experience. Survival is a genre that places the player in a position where they will have to stay alive and though the majority of games are based on not dying, survival games concentrate heavily on that mechanic. The typical mechanics you'd see within a survival game are hunger bars, buildables and more which concentrate on the typical human need for survival. Minecraft is a good example as the player is placed into a world with no items, food, resources or anything. They will begin to get materials and take steps to ensure they cannot die, upgrading their equipment and resources.

As for horror, this is a genre that has been around for a long time designed to scare and make people feel uncomfortable. This can be done in a variety of ways by playing upon peoples insecurities, having images flash on screen or producing a cold killing person/creature that hunts people down. Video games have offered this practice from a very early age and developers are still trying different methods and mechanics to produce a more vividly horrifying experience even introducing technology to monitor play testers and bring a scientifical opinion into the mix to try and create games that make the majority of players shudder in fear.

As for a survival horror it speaks for itself, the game concentrates on including this factor of fear whilst trying to make the player concentrate on surviving. These types of games will usually place very limited resources in the world (if it even includes an attacking mechanic) whilst offering a whole range of creepy and horrific enemies for the player to battle.

Resident evil 2

A good example of a game that is survival horror is resident evil 2, created in 1998 by capcom it places the player as a protagonist or their choice: Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield. The protagonist is travelling towards a city known as Raccoon City which has had all its inhabitants turned into zombies and other ghoulish creatures. The player must find ammo, weapons and items to help them fight through the hordes and traverse through the puzzles which are spread all over the town. The player must, however, use the ammo and health items collected wisely as they are within limited fashion compared to the amount of enemies the game has.


 
First person shooter (FPS):

The first person shooter genre speaks for itself, it places the player into the perspective of a character and has the player traverse through a story that will mainly involve them in some way. The game will also involve weapons (mainly guns) and projectiles for the player to use as they fight their way through hordes of enemy AI's. The majority of first person shooters look entirely the same with the main elements of change being the story and the user interface. The two games which defined the genre and made it what it is today are Doom and Wolfenstein 3D which were released in 1992 and 1993. They are both heavily credited for their contribution to the genre and the way it has moulded it as most games of today copy that exact formula.

Half life 2

Half life 2 is a great game which is part of the first person shooter genre. Released in 2004 and developed by Valve, it is one of the hugest games to be part of that genre due to its story telling elements and offered gameplay experience. It has a range of weapons for the player to use such as a crowbar, machine gun, rocket launcher and more. What defines it in the FPS is the amazing story the game has, with the first game setting a solid foundation, the second game built upon it massively and has caused to go down in history for one of the best storytelling games ever.



Puzzle:

The puzzle genre is designed to test the minds of people, originally expressed in forms of things such as crosswords or games of chess it has been involved in the video game industry and offers a more vivid and dynamic experience then a crossword ever could. One of the most popular games of all time is in fact a puzzle game known as Tetris. The game challenges people to think about how to gain as many points by matching pieces so they slot together. Since then it has come a very long way with the industry and many puzzles games are a lot more intricate in design allowing for harder challenges with varying factors.

Portal 2

Portal 2 is a fantastic example of a puzzle game. Released in 2011 by Valve it has been another huge success of a game and is considered to be one of a kind in its genre. Once again the game built upon what the first game offered and increased its potential massively, offering more puzzling challenges and mechanics. The game is is built around its main mechanic though which is using a gun to shoot two types of portals that would connect each other so when the player entered one they would appear out of the second, the same applies for any object.




Management:

A management game is part of a genre that isn't the most popular but is very intricate. The genre is based around managing the objective that the developers have placed in the game for you, this can range from civilisations to teams to buildings and more. If the player does not manage their objective well enough or they make mistakes then consequences can arise for them which causes their objective to crumble or be damaged a little.

Tiny tower

Tiny tower is a game released in 2011 for IOS and Android by NimbleBit. It has the user managing a tower filled with people known as "blitizens" and tries to make them build the biggest tower possible by adding floors and gaining more "blitizens" so they can earn higher amounts of money thus allowing for better management of the tower and its people.



Educational:

As humans knowledge is a very powerful thing and the more knowledge as human has the better equiped at life they are. To gain knowledge they originally went to school as school teaches its students knowledge about certain things such as maths, english, science and more. As the media has progressed people have attempted to implement education into everything they can with educational books containing information about the subject the person is trying to research or TV with productions such as documentaries teaching people about history or geography and more. Video games have also been a way for people to try and educate, especially children since they are captivated more by video games than they are by actual education.

In my opinion video games are a very helpful piece of media for information as I have learned a lot of things from video games that I have used in practice of lessons, especially during my history classes. Since video games concetrate more on entertainment rather than education I believe it stays fresher in the mind than most ways that people get educated which makes for a very interesting form of teaching.

Brain age

Brain age is a game that can be used by all ages to try and educate their brains and keep them active. Created in 2005 by Nintendo it involves a lot of puzzle based mini games that test the skills you would learn in education. It attempts to engage each age group and each level of smartness by offering more difficult scenarios and questions. One of its main features is the brain age check which offers three puzzles for the user to complete and depending on how well the player did will depend on what brain age the game will calculate for them. The game allows for development and growth and with the brain age checker allows the user to keep testing themselves to see if they are improving their brain or not.



Sources:
http://wallpoper.com/wallpaper/fantasy-art-263518
http://thwacke.com/2011/12/scientific-rationale-behind-adam-eve-and-the-use-of-plasmids/
https://www.nextmashup.com/best-action-games
http://gtspirit.com/2015/09/01/7-best-car-racing-games-in-20152016/
http://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/minecraft-discussion/survival-mode/273836-my-new-survival-house
http://www.gamingenthusiast.net/10-best-horror-games-of-2012/
http://www.retrospiritgames.co.uk/2013/02/special-feature-doom-20-years-on-still.html
http://www.drodd.com/html7/tetris.html
http://www.gamespot.com/forums/football-manager-2017-909404766/football-manager-2017-download-crack-cracked-game--33366751/
https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/27no70/loved_these_quotes_as_a_kid_call_of_duty_2/

Task 1C - 3 Evaluated Games

Uncharted 2 Among Thieves

genre:
action/adventure

Elements:

Terrain

The terrain of Uncharted can be seen as the whole world since the game is set in multiple locations around the world. In this case I would class the areas visited by the player as sub-terrain to explain the games playable areas. There are multiple sub-terrains featured in the game ranging from Nepal, Borneo, Istanbul, Tibet and more each with their own unique environments and explorable locations.

Architecture

Depending on where the player is in the game will depend on the architecture they will see in game, if the player is exploring city streets then they will see architecture made of buildings, the architecture inside of buildings such as desks, the streets littered with architecture such as cars or telephone poles. However, if the player is exploring a temple they will see statues, boulders and more of a different architectual aesthetic to give off different atmospherical vibes.

Objects

The objects featured within Uncharted are the range of weapons and equipment that the player can pick up to fight off enemies. There are also collectibles such as treasures scattered throughout the levels that the player is able to find and pick up.

Characters

There are a range of characters involved in the uncharted story, firstly we have the main protagonist known as Nathan Drake, he is a adult male who is trying to discover different mythical treasures and cities to become rich. He isn't considered to be a good guy as such since he works outside of the law and is known as a thief, however, his charismatic personality and whitty jokes make him a down to earth and loveable character.

The second main character is known as Victor "sully" Sullivan who is Drake's best friend, mentor and father figure. He is also a treasure hunter like Drake and they usually accompanies Drake to help try and find a treasure of a lifetime so he can become rich. Sully is an unplayable character of the main story of Uncharted (although he is playable in the multiplayer mode.) But he offers a huge amount of time to the story making him more than just an NPC.

The third main character is Elena Fisher, she is a character who accompanied Nathan in the first Uncharted tale and at the end of their adventure fell in love with him. Due to unknown reasons they are not together from the beginning of the events of the second game but after running into each other a relationship begins to blossom again and they are back together by the end of the game. In future instalments they are both married to each other.

The final main character is Zoran Lazarevic who is the antagonist of the game, he is a Russian adult male who has been involved in several wars and assassination attempts leaving his face to be scarred with burn and scratch marks. His mission is to discover the mythical city of Shambala to become one of the most powerful humans to ever exist along with creating a superhuman army.

NPC

There are two kinds of NPC in Uncharted, the first kind are the enemies that Drake encounters throughout the entirety of the game. These enemies are part of Lazarevic's army and are there to try and stop Drake from foiling Lazarevic's plans and also the guardians of Shambala who try to stop anyone from entering and gaining the superhuman powers it holds.

The second kind of NPC are civilians, ranging from the Tibetan villagers who live in the snowy mountains of Tibet and helped save Drake, all the way to the policemen of Turkey who arrest Drake for breaking into a museum at night. These policeman could also be seen as enemy NPC though since they to try and neutralise the player for breaking into the museum.

Feedback

The only feedback to be featured with the Uncharted game is the leaderboard that is a part of the multiplayer mode. This multiplayer has various game modes available to play such as Deathmatch, Plunder, elimination and more. Each with their own style of information to feedback to the player.

Interface

The interface for the game is a standard interface for a shooter game, it includes a crosshair within the middle of the screen and has a location within which it shows the player what gun they have equipped, the amount of ammo in total, the amount of ammo in the current magazine and how many grenades they have. When weapons are not equipped however, the game displays no form of interface and merely allows the player to experiecne the art style and environments on its own.


Perspective

The game is played from a third person perspective, there is no way to change the perspective of the camera or the angle. The camera is positioned to follow Drake from behind the shoulder, depending on which way the player is facing while aiming a weapon will depend on the position of the camera to a certain shoulder.

FMV

Uncharted has various cutscenes littered throughout the game that help to explain the story inbetween gameplay, to create these cutscenes the development team got the the voice actors and stunt doubles to wear motion capturing suits and used motion capturing technology to record the movements so they could create a more realistic game with the cutscenes looking as though the characters were from real life.


Rayman Origins

genre:
platformer


Elements:
Terrain

The terrain of Rayman Origins is the glade of dreams, it is the world that Rayman lives in and has six major islands that make up the world, the first is has a jungle environment and is known as the Jibberish jungle, the second is a musical desert island known as the Desert of Dijiridoos, the third is a mix of Ice and fire with the theme being food and is known as Gourmand land, the fourth is an area that has been built over the ocean and is known as the sea of serendipity, the fifth being a snowy mountain area known as Mystical Pique and the final location is an area that takes place in the sky known as Moody Clouds.

Architecture

Depending on which area the player will visit will depend on the type of architecture they will see, the areas also speak for themselves with the jungle featuring tree and plant like architecture whilst the desert features architecture made out of instruments such as drums and pianos. Each area will be customised to maintain the architecture that best suits them and makes the environment look more atmospherical and not out of place.

Objects

All objects in the game are collectibles for the player, these collectibles consist of lums, hearts and Electoons. The lums are the main collectibles of the game and act as the normal currency type object for the player, these can be collected from either killing an enemy, running over the lums or hitting them out of bulb-o-lums (which is another interactable object the player can destroy.) The aesthetics of the bulb-o-lum will change depending on which area/environment the player is in.

The hearts allow the player to gain an extra life and will be found either inside of destroyable turnips which need to be punched out of the ground and kicked in the air or within glass jars that need to be hit to open and collect the heart.

The final object is the cage that the Electoons are imprisoned in, Electoons are the important collectible of the game and without collecting them will cause the player to experience hindrances with progression from one island to the next. They are the main purpose of the game and there are a certain amount to collect to get the glade of dreams back to being normal. To free some Electoons it will involve smashing open a cage that they are kept in, one can be found at the end of most stages.

Characters

There are a mass amount of characters featured within Rayman Origins, the first character and main hero of the game and series is Rayman. He is a limbless humanoid with floating appendages that allow him to throw his hands and feet towards enemies without stretching out any arms. He is a hapless character and is hardly ever seen without a smile on his face within the Rayman Origins game. His adventures are usually accompanied by his friends and even if they are heavily outnumbered will make a good situation out of a bad one.

The second important character in Rayman is Globox, a frog like creature belonging to a species known as the 'Glutes.' He is Rayman's slap happy best friend and even though he isn't as smart he is just as loyal. He has a more crazy attitude and personality compared to Rayman which can be seen as very humorous. He is depicted to be blue blue was originally a red colour until an accident happened involving blueberries and mosquitos.

The third important characters are the teensies, these are a race of small, long nosed beings that try keep the balance of the world within the glade of dreams and help rayman out when there is trouble. They are more serious characters and have a various amount of versions ranging from kings, to kung fu masters to wizard teensies and more.

The final important character is the magician, he is the only non-playable characters on this list, as he is the antagonist of the game. He is a teensy that's turned evil and has gotten the nightmare creatures into a war with the heroes having them capture all Electoons and imprison them to bring imbalance to the world. The magician will pretend to be on the heroes side and give hints throughout the levels and be there at the end to harvest any lums you have collected throughout the level. However, the lums helped him to power the mechanical city in the sky which is where the last area of the game takes place.

NPC

The NPC's of Rayman origins are the enemies and nymphs of the world. The enemies of Rayman are known as the darktoons and are a creation of the bad dreams that Polokus has (the creator of the glade of dreams.) They are dark in colour and attempt to cause chaos and bring imbalance to the glade of dreams by imprisoning the heroes and capturing all Electoons. They are the main enemies the player will fight against as they go through each stage.

The nymphs are fairies who live within the glade of dreams, after the first darktoons were created one nymph known as Betilla went and gathered lums to create Rayman so he could fight against the nightmarish creatures, a few lums were stolen however, causing Rayman to be born limbless. In the game the player will save five nymphs which are set to one island each. Once a nymph is rescued they will give the character a power up, these power ups can go from flying, punching, swimming, wall running and turning small or big in size.

Interface

The only interface to be seen within Rayman Origins is the lum collector which is positioned within the top left part of the screen. It tells the player how many lums they have collected throughout the level, this is due to the game being concentrated on its art style and fast gameplay for the player to enjoy.


Perspective

The perspective of the game is like the average platformer, there is a 2D perspective from a sideways view so the player can control the characters either left or right. There are limited times when a 2.5D perspective will come into play and that is when the player will bounce from a front piece of land into the background art, however, that is not featured in the game very much.

FMV

There is very little FMV featured within the game, the only FMV is the intro cutscene and the cutscene at the end of the game. This is due to it concentrating more on gameplay than story telling, allowing for the story to be interpreted by the players in their own way.

Portal 2

genre:
Puzzle

Elements:

Terrain

The terrain of Portal 2 is the huge research company the known as aperture science, inside of aperture science are multiple areas, one area is a holding bay where all test subjects are kept, the present company which is where the main tests are done and finally there is the old research company which is buried deep beneath the new company and is outdated with its technology and tests.

Architecture

The main architecture to be seen within portal 2 will be a lot of science based architecture, this includes things such as tubes that transport items, elevators to transport people, bullet proof glass, light bridges and more. The architecture is more inside based and merely concentrates on more smaller scaled objects rather than the last two games which concentrate on huge architecture such as buildings or trees.

Objects

There are a numerous amount of objects featured within the game that the player can interact with, the main object is known as a test cube (although in some tests it can be replaced with a spherical object.) These objects are mainly used to help the player problem solve puzzles and progress through the tests. There are also other intractable items in the world as well such as radios, chairs, mugs and more but these are more decorative items for the game and hold no value to helping the player through levels. The other important object in the game is the portal gun the player has, it is the only weapon they have for use and is used as the primary tool for getting the player from location to location, it will shoot out two portals that will connect and allow the player to walk through and transport items through.

Characters

The main character of the game is a human known as Chell, she is a mute character and not much is known apart from theories about her past. The only things that are known about her are that she is a test subject for the aperture science company and has been the only person to survive against the antagonist of the first and partially of the second game.

The partial antagonist of the game is a robot known as GLaDOS, she was originally a human known as Caroline. After her husband Cave Johnson wanted to find a way to cheat death and live forever he attempted to make it possible for a human to live on as a robot, however, he was gravely ill and knew he was going to die soon making the company base the robot around his wife instead. After she was brought alive for the first time she killed everyone in the company except for a few characters, one of which being Chell who she performed tests on trying to get Chell killed within each test. She is a partial antagonist because at one point of the game she is rejected from being the main robot of the facility and is transferred into a potato, after Chell being betrayed and GLaDOS being turned into a potato they decide to work together so that Chell can put GLaDOS back in her body and in return escape from the facility.

The final character is Wheatley, he is an artificial intelligence in Portal and is the only friend to Chell, after waking her up he tries to help her escape the facility as he wishes to get out as well. After help from Chell and being put into the body of GLaDOS he promises to get Chell out but is turned evil due to the bug in the robots programming making him become the antagonist of the second half of the game. From there he tries to murder Chell but fails and is sent into outer space for the remainder of his days.

NPC

The only NPC's of this game are the turrets that try to kill Chell throughout the game, these are trap based AI's that shoot at Chell whenever she is in their sight. To deactivate the robots Chell must knock them onto their sides either using objects or by picking them up herself.

Interface

The only interface for the game is a cross hair with two colour indicators on the left and right side, these colour indicators tell the player if a portal is placed and if so which colour portal has been placed. If a blue portal has been placed then the right side will be lit up blue, if the orange portal has been placed then the left side will light up orange, if both have been placed then they will both be lit up and if non have been placed then no colour will be luminous.

Perspective

The game is played from a first person perspective, it has the player controlling Chell from her eyes and cannot be changed into a different camera perspective. This is to allow for a more concentrated value on the puzzle solving as a third person camera view with the portal gun might be clunkier or harder to control.


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